August Urban Unemployment in China Rises Amid Seasonal Changes

The urban unemployment rate in China increased last month, mainly due to a surge in recent graduates entering the job market.

The country’s urban surveyed unemployment rate rose to 5.3% in September from 5.2% in August, remaining unchanged from the same period last year, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics yesterday. Over the first eight months of the year, the jobless rate stood at 5.2% through August 31.

Historically, the unemployment rate tends to spike seasonally during the graduation months of July and August, before tapering off once graduates secure employment, explained Fu Linghui, a spokesperson for the bureau. He noted that this pattern usually repeats annually.

In the current context, the increase in unemployment last month was primarily attributed to a high number of recent graduates entering the labor force, Fu added.

The unemployment rate for workers aged between 30 and 59 held steady at 3.9% in August, showing no change from the previous month or the same period last year, which indicates consistent employment levels within this core working-age group.

Considering the ongoing external uncertainties and persistent challenges related to employment quantity and structure domestically, Fu emphasized that maintaining overall stability in employment remains difficult despite active efforts and continuous policy support aimed at employment stabilization.

He stressed that the focus should be on intensifying efforts to stabilize employment and economic growth, improve vocational training, better balance labor supply and demand, promote full and high-quality employment, improve people’s livelihoods, support steady economic development, and sustain social stability.